Man Seeks Help Funding $20,000 Luxury Airplane Ticket on Kickstarter

Is this “the most ridiculous Kickstarter ever?” Creator Ben Schlapping thinks so. The blogger has launched a deeply decadent crowdfunding campaign to get himself a $20,000 one-way ride in a luxury Etihad Airways suite. But it’s totally cool if you don’t want to help.

“The Residence” is a newly-unveiled luxury cabin due to start classing up Airbus A380s from the United Arab Emirates airline as early as this December. The 125-foot three-room private quarters come with a luxurious bathroom,  furniture made from the leather used for Ferraris, and, of course, a private butler. Just because you’re traveling doesn’t mean you have to be a barbarian.

Here’s a virtual tour of Etihad’s floating palace:

Twilight seems like an odd choice, but okay.

Schlappig’s Kickstarter video also has some great insights on the Residence’s amenities, but since it starts off along the lines of “excuse the noise, I’m in Sicily,” I used Etihad’s video above instead.

So why would anyone blow $20,000 on one night in a bumpy hotel? Schlappig reviews first-class airplane products and accommodations for Boarding Area, and he’s eager to experience a concept that he predicts will “revolutionize air travel.” One of his blog posts explains,

I’m the only person that has independently written reviews of every single A380 first class product currently in service, and have self-funded every one of those flights using miles[…]within a day of posting about the new product, I received over a dozen messages/comments/emails from readers suggesting I start a Kickstarter campaign to fund a review of the Etihad A380 Residences.

Schlapping doesn’t anticipate raising more than $5000 for his shamelessly first-world fundraiser, and he’s totally fine with that. But if someone does fund what he describes as the “totally f*cking ridiculous” campaign, then the benefactor might get a share of the luxury:

 Update: One of the cool thing about Etihad Residence is that they allow a guest at no additional cost. Kickstarter has specific rules about not having entries associated with any sort of contests. But stay tuned, if this works out I’ll have something really fun regarding the second seat.

As long as the butler is all mine, Ben. Then you’ve got yourself a deal.

(Boarding Area via Gizmodo, image via Etihad Airways and Boarding Area)